1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a versatile contactless electronic transaction card which may provide a plurality of contactless functions on one card. The present invention also relates to a contactless card which may be convertible for use in operating environments having different size accommodations for the contactless card.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Electronic transaction cards have long been prevalent in modern society for storing user or account specific information to provide convenient and fast transactions in a variety of situations. For example, such cards may be used to store information regarding a user's account information to facilitate purchase transactions or service transactions, or a user's identity to gain access through secure or privileged networks and systems. Generally, there are two types of such electronic transaction cards—the more established contact-type cards and the more recent contactless transaction cards.
Examples of a contact-type electronic transaction card include the credit card, as shown in FIG. 1, or the subscriber identity modules (SIM) card, as shown in FIG. 2. While credit cards are well known in this country, SIM cards are used primarily in Europe and Asia (although gaining in popularity in the United States) in communication devices such as mobile telephones to enable a user to access an individual account or a particular wireless communication network in a specific country. Generally SIM cards are provided in one of two sizes, i.e., a full-sized card which is sized similarly to a credit card, and a micro or plug-in sized card (see FIG. 2) which is much smaller than a credit card (approximately 25 mm long and 15 mm wide). In the contact-type cards, the account and/or other user-specific information is stored or encoded on a magnetic strip or an integrated circuit (IC) chip embedded in the card. The information stored or associated with the card can only be accessed by placing the magnetic strip or IC chip in direct physical contact with a card reader or access device.
Contactless transaction cards, on the other hand, are presently commonly used in public transportation systems or for security/access control. Similarly to a contact-type card, the integrated circuit in a contactless transaction card may store information specific to a user such as a user's account information or identification information. On the other hand, while a contact-type card requires physical contact of the magnetic strip or IC with the card reader or access device, a contactless transaction card transmits and receives information from and to a card reader or access device via radiofrequency signals and does not require physical contact between the card and the reader or access device.
As shown in FIG. 3, a contactless transaction card 200 includes an integrated circuit 210 mounted on a card substrate 230 and an antenna 220 extending from the IC 210, wherein the antenna 220 is also mounted on card substrate 230. Preferably, both the IC 210 and the antenna 220 are embedded inside a plurality of layers laminated together to form the card 200. The antenna 220 has a relatively long total length with respect to the IC 210, and is typically incorporated in the card 200 in a looped manner or wound in a pattern within the plane of the card. The transfer or reading of information to or from a contactless transaction card is achieved by the transmission of RF signals through the antenna 220 extending from the integrated circuit 210. The length of the antenna is proportional to the transmission and reception range thereof, so that the longer the antenna, the greater the distance away from the reader/access device the card can be held to successfully transfer or access information between the card and the reader/access device.
In an example of using a contactless transaction card, a user is enabled to gain access to a secured location by simply bringing the contactless transaction card close to an access device within a range appropriate for the antenna, whereupon the access device is enabled to read the identification data contained in the IC via the antenna in the card. If the access device determines that the user, based on the detected identification information, is authorized to access the secured location, the access device sends a signal which controls the security system to enable the user to gain access to the secured location.
When a contactless transaction card is used in a transportation system, for example, the IC mounted in the card contains the user's account information, such as an available balance (for a declining balance type of arrangement), or billing information (for a credit type of arrangement). The manner of operation for using the card to enter or exit the transportation system or to access or update the user's account is similar to the operation for access control, in that the card is simply brought towards the card reader within the transmission range of the antenna.
Contactless transaction cards provide several advantages over the standard integrated circuit (contact-type) cards, such as faster transaction times, greater ease of use, and less wear and tear on the cards and the access devices. Hence, the popularity of contactless transaction cards is increasing as wireless technology becomes incorporated into a greater variety of applications.
One consequence of the increased use of contactless transaction cards is that a user may be required to carry several cards at one time, each card usable in a different environment and/or for different functions. It would thus be desirable to consolidate and/or provide versatility to a contactless transaction card to reduce the number of cards maintained by a user.